Sunday, December 21, 2008

Today Lucas did something new- he went to his first movie. In a cinema that is not even a week old. And within walking distance of our house.

Lucas did really well- he didn't get scared, except when they clumsily started a preview (whoops, I mean 'trailer') at extreme volume. He got kind of bored at a couple points and wanted to change seats but for the most part he stayed focused and watched the movie with his thumb in his mouth, contented. It helped that the film was Madagascar II, the sequel to one of his all time favorite movies.

This makes me very happy. I've been holding off on bringing him to a film, as I didn't think he'd be able to sit still. I think Ruan was about 6 when I took him to his first movie- he did fine, except he spent about ten minutes standing instead of sitting, until I managed to coax him back to his seat. That was Finding Nemo.

This means we can all go to movies together!! Or rather, that Ruan, Lucas and I can go to movies together- I doubt we'll have much luck getting Evani to join us. But I hope I'm wrong.

The new theater is in a big concrete box that used to house another theater. That theater closed years ago, and has since been undergoing renovations. They finally opened the doors to the public on Friday. It now has four theaters, a bookstore, a cafe, and a space that looks like it will be used for events. It is in a fantastic location in Praça Castro Alves, which is a beautiful spot by day with a panoramic view of the bay, and a horrible place after about 6 PM as a couple of the roads that let out onto it lead to very sketchy areas. I know more people who have been robbed in Castro Alves than anywhere else in Salvador.

We took a look around the building after the movie and I was more than impressed. It has big windows with great views, wide granite stairways, an impressive looking bookstore, and a fancy bar/cafe. The theaters themselves are state of the art (I think, what do I know about state of the art theaters?) - big, comfy seats, a steep seating area, big old screen.

Problem was, there were only about ten people watching the film- granted this was 2 PM on a Sunday. We went in there last night and there were a lot of staff standing around being helpful but almost no customers. I hope this is going to change. They appear to be pitching this as something of an art-house project, and I hope there's an audience for it. The movies aren't cheap- they generally aren't here, but the location is not close to any wealthy population centers and is not inside of a mall, which always attracts those with means.

I've become so cynical that even as I was exalting in this new space I was already expecting it to fail. Build something nice, nearby, and it's too good to be true. Nobody's going to go and it will close, or it will get trashed before its time and it will close, or there will be some scandal and it will close. All roads lead to closure in my mind.